legal rights regarding communal parking in housing estate

Elaine B

Hi
Just wondered if anyone with past experience or legal background could offer some advice.

Purchased my home 9 years ago in a housing estate with both houses and town houses. House was sold with 'communal parking' with no specific parking bays allocated . An ongoing issue has been the lack of parking in the estate. I contacted the builder a few years ago and highlighted the problem and he added some extra parking into the green area- but the issue still continues. Frequently residents are having to park on the road within the estate , up on the kerbway of the green. The road within the estate is narrow meaning for those who do have a parking space, there is limited room to reverse or drive out due to the fact that there are cars parked on the green kerbway. Also, when there are cars/vans there, the view is obscured whilst driving in and out of the estate. The bin men have difficulty driving in and out of the estate also.

The housing estate looks a mess, with cars parked everywhere.

With home bond, as far as I know it doesnt cover any issue like this.

Does anyone know what my rights are in a situation like this?
I feel that both the builder and estate agents took the piss when selling houses and the situation is so bad, I cant believe that planning was even allowed in the first pace.

To top all of this off, there is one row of houses where the residents have taken complete ownership of the communal spaces outside their home-- they block people in meaning you then have to ring their doorbell to get out. Some of them have been threatening and state they own the spaces, when clearly they dont.

The house was sold with an annual fee for maintenance, which I think was 400 or 500 euro. 'Maintenance' was not outlined in specific terms and I assume that it covers lighting or insurance. Since the year of purchase, the builder has not come back to look for the maintenance fee. The housing estate is partly unfinished with a fenced off compound area.I am assuming he has not come back for maintenance because of this- i dont think residents would be willing to pay maintenance (we all pay our on bin charges privately.Someone comes in and mows the green area - presumably builder pays for this)

So, couple of my questions are:

Am I covered by my car insurance if the car is parked within my estate, but not in a car parking space but on the road?
If a resident in a housing estate blocks in another resident and makes them ring the doorbell in order to drive their car, is there any point in calling the guards (if that neighbour comes out and moves their car)- but if this is happening regularly?
Do I have any legal standing with the builder?
Is there any point in contacting a solicitor or am i just stuck with this situation?
Is there any point in contacting the county council about this matter? (the estate is not maintained by the council and a few years ago when all the public lighting went, I contacted the council, who then had to contact the builder regarding the issue)

Any advice on what to do or info about similar experiences would be much appreciated.

Thanks

ED E

This should be here:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=876

The mods will move it for you when they come along.

jimmynokia

This is a common situatuion and not much you can do spaces are not allocated or numbered like you would see in some similar developements the only thing is to get all the occupants to do is perhaps come up with a plan or contact the builder is possible. Due to homlessnes and family expansion this will not go away, YOu have to consider visitors and all that too and then new occupancy with whom have vehicles and so on...

Messy one...

Insurance wise you are not tied to one specific spot ie your residence.
As for legal standing with builder thats a good one ,is he still about?
Your solicitor is poinltess it would need to be the entire estate wanting the same thing..You will have the few awkward residents that would say FU and that would lead to conflict. Thats just my thoughts anyway..

Elaine B

Ya, builder is still about.

There is one vacant house in the estate that to my knowledge he hasnt sold as yet. I see him driving in and out the odd time and he checks on the fencing of the compound (its regularly pulled down/trespassed by local kids)

Initially he had plans to build another row of town houses but that hasnt happpened yet. Ive been keeping an eye out for the planning permission sign. He adapted his plans a few years ago and now I am hoping that he has passed the 5 year mark and will have to apply for planning again. I see that as a good opportunity to contact the council and flag the parking issue- but not sure if/when that might happen.

Ya- parking gets worse at weekends when visitors come to estate- cars everywhere.

AndrewJRenko

It sounds like you are part of a MUD - a multi-unit development - with a management company and probably a managing agent responsible for parking and other facilities in the estate. If you own the property, you are a shareholder in the management company - a part-owner of the company.

So the management company (or the managing agent that they employ to deal with matters) is your first port of call. Document the problems that you're having and get on to the managing agent. And when they ignore you as they probably will, head down to the next AGM of the management company with four or five of your neighbours who are equally concerned about the issue. Get yourself or someone else that you trust appointed to the board of the management company so you can do something about it.

If no AGM is called, there is a procedure to force this - further advice here;
https://www.askaboutmoney.com/threads/wording-for-the-calling-of-an-egm-for-an-owners-management-co.196024/

But you won't have a huge number of options. You probably won't have the resources to buy extra space to be used for parking.

The best thing that you will be able to do is to communicate the rules clearly to all residents, and if necessary, bring in clamping to enforce those rules. This will stop those who park to block in others.

You should also be looking for opportunities to reduce car dependencies. Are there safe facilities to lock bikes on the estate? If not, think about installing a few bike lockers or safe sheds. Is there a GoCar point nearby, or could you engage with GoCar to make this happen. Could you set up a shuttle bus to/from the nearest train station or Luas stop at peak hours.

Elaine B

Thanks Andrew for this info.

From what I know, there actually is no management company as such- i think the management company is just the builder, so no AGM's are called. Ive been on to him a few times by email and he doesnt respond.

As yet, there is no residents association either. Theres only about 30 houses in the estate in two rows- one row who bully and intimidate people by blocking them in and telling them to move and another row who respect the communal parking arrangement, but simply dont have enough space for parking. Between both rows combined, there has never been enough spaces for all residents

colm_mcm

Wonder if calling the gardai would be appropriate if you were blocked in?

Del2005

Elaine B wrote: »

Ya, builder is still about.

There is one vacant house in the estate that to my knowledge he hasnt sold as yet. I see him driving in and out the odd time and he checks on the fencing of the compound (its regularly pulled down/trespassed by local kids)

Initially he had plans to build another row of town houses but that hasnt happpened yet. Ive been keeping an eye out for the planning permission sign. He adapted his plans a few years ago and now I am hoping that he has passed the 5 year mark and will have to apply for planning again. I see that as a good opportunity to contact the council and flag the parking issue- but not sure if/when that might happen.

Ya- parking gets worse at weekends when visitors come to estate- cars everywhere.

It's the council's fault that the parking is a mess. Their standard planning allowance is 1.5 spaces per unit and since most units have 2 people you see the results.


TBH from the sounds of your post the parking is the least of your problems. You are living in a MUD with no management company and that means no insurance for the buildings or the grounds. You really need to contact a solicitor to find out the status of the development and try to get control of it. Over 9 years built and no management company therefore no sinking fund or other things required when living in a MUD.

AndrewJRenko

Elaine B wrote: »

Thanks Andrew for this info.

From what I know, there actually is no management company as such- i think the management company is just the builder, so no AGM's are called. Ive been on to him a few times by email and he doesnt respond.

That's really a question for your solicitor who did the conveyancing when you bought the house. There is usually a practical provision that allows the builder to operate the management company while the site is being developed, and then hand over to the proper management company. If this has never happened, you need to know what provisions were in your original contract.

A call to the ODCE tomorrow might help.